WEEK SEVEN: MINGLE

[retellers]

WEEK SEVEN: MINGLE (21 remain) Rise and shine, gremlins. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it's the start of a new week. To the participants, yesterday's events may seem distant now—albeit not as distant as their life before this. Whether or not they notice, they will have lost a memory upon waking up. As usual, the participants will find that their lodgings have changed, and should anyone check their PHS, Chiron, Ochako, Soo-won, and Dorothy's profiles have been removed. They may also find that they have difficulty recalling complete details of the past weeks. Furthermore, it looks as though the rules have updated. Not everything is the same as the previous pattern, though. The barrier to the north is back up, and once more, what lies beyond is an empty field. In contrast, however, participants may notice that they can finally access a place they haven't been able to before... Additionally, it looks like the Leaders aren't around. No matter where the participants look, they're nowhere to be found. Should anyone try calling for them in the Planetarium, there will be no response—not even a message telling the participant that they're busy. Finally, everything around the participants begins to... glitch? Buildings may suddenly blink out of existence and then back in, random items like chairs or cups may suddenly distort even while they're being used, and looking at any particular thing for too long may give someone a headache. It's worse than it was that one week, though: participants will find that it's happening to themselves as well. Body parts might suddenly glitch out of existence then back in, and there will be a shot of pain when it occurs. It'll happen randomly, but it also seems to occur more often if they're touching something or another person.

NAVIGATION locations ₓ˚. statuses *+:｡ ic profiles :ₓo ic rules ･ﾟﾟ･｡ audience requests murder proposals ｡✧o private conversations ･ﾟo｡ curfew ･ﾟ✧ memories

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[retellers]

[ Jester and Hansa wrestle intensely. ]

Can someone please break them up...!?

[ But does anyone want to get near them, really.

Ash nyooms off, shooting Blanca a glare. Gasping for breath, the non-Ash blond makes his way to his red-haired team member, before collapsing. With the fury of someone who really fucking hates losing, the red-haired girl takes off. No one but Emet-Selch will hear this, but the guy also says something that probably sounds like, "Wow, my girlfriend is so cool" as he lies there on the ground. ]

Ooh, it's cutting it close! Class 3, do your best to catch up! But right now, it looks like it might be down to Class 1 vs. Class 2! Teacher vs. Student! Actually, wait, shouldn't they both be students...

[robopriest]

[No need to break them up, they're both having fun! At least, Hansa is. With the chokehold that Hansa's put Jester in, maybe Jester isn't having too much fun. It's fine!]

[Hansa pauses to raise his voice as his teammate passes.]

Go, go, Blanca!

[Okay, back to your regular vampire-fighting program.]

[arkitect]

[at least emet is better off than that guy, geez.

but he is also here for moral support, possibly!]

Just get this over with, would you-!

[that counts as support. free them from this race, blanca, let's go.]

[papasha]

[Hansa just stopping to rally a teammate before returning to strangling vampire Hisoka is everything.

Also, sometimes you have to teach a boy by making him work for it. So Ash is going to have to work for it if he wants to win because Blanca isn't cutting him any slack by waiting.

It is a little strange being pretty much the same age as Ash, but it's fine.

Nyoooooom.]

[retellers]

[ Nyoom! ]

Close! It's close! Aaaaand... Class 1 wins!

[ As Blanca dashes to the finish line ahead of Ash, and Hansa continues to wrestle Jester.

The red-haired girl looks peeved, but cheers up a little when her teammates make their way over to her (or rather, the brown-haired girl has to carry the blond boy). Yaaaay, team spirit.

The glasses-wearing girl from before approaches Blanca, holding a few water bottles. Emet-Selch and Hansa are going to have to come over here if they want any, but she holds one out to Blanca. ]

Congratulations on your win! ♥

[robopriest]

[At this point, Hansa is just now sitting on Jester's back, sort of leaning his hand on the other's neck.]

Ah... [He looks like a very pleased wild cat that managed to fight and win against a swan.] What a pity that I can't decapitate you here and now. Hm.

[Yeah, he's not coming over...yet. Let him enjoy his supremacy over vampirekind.]

[arkitect]

[he will in fact come over for this conversation, especially because there's water, thanks. he's still dying a little bit. emet-selch is no longer sure he cares if anything happens.]

Well, with that out of the way, what ought we expect to--

[...hold on. why is their other jock not here. he turns to face hansa, gesturing for him to get over here, and folds his arms.]

[papasha]

[GOD. He has to bend over and put both hands on his thighs while he tries to get his breath back. Look, he's fit, but sheesh. He hadn't expected to run a relay.]

Thanks...

[He chugs a little of the water as Emet-Selch comes over. Hansa is missing, though, and he glances back toward the field. Ah.]

Hansa! Leave him, he's toast! [You did it, dude. You got the nasty high school vampire.] Come on!

[Please don't drag Jester over here by the neck like a cat bringing back a dead bird.]

[retellers]

[ Well.

Is Hansa doing just that. ]

[robopriest]

[He actually blinks, gesturing at Jester underneath him with some disappointment.]

He's a Dead Apostle...!

[Erghhhhh. Hansa stands up, before twisting around and kicking the vampire hard in the side.]

Don't you dare get up, or I'll find a way to rip off your arms and beat you over the head with them. [BITCH. And he sort of sulks as he goes back to get his water with the rest.] I swear, I need to find myself a knife or something...

[chaotic cyborg thinks nothing but about killing vampires all day]

[arkitect]

I highly doubt that is his actual self, Hansa. All you gain from this is self-satisfaction-- which I would not deprive you of entirely, mind you, had we not other work to accomplish.

[kill the vampire all you want when they're not Busy, that would be fine, but there is presumably still shit to do.

'mc vamp punch mc vamp punch' vs 'YOU HAVE JESTER AT HOME', tbh.]

[papasha]

[Very casually, he puts an arm around Hansa's shoulders when the man gets to them, just so he can turn Hansa away in case Mr. Bodysnatcher back there decides to run off. Listen, they can't lose their second jock to another chase.

He puts the third bottle of water against Hansa's chest as an additional distraction.]

Here. You did good, but Aides is right. We've probably still got work to do. I'll help you get him later if he's still around. How about it?

[retellers]

[ The group might hear a cheerful, "Ash!" as someone Blanca might recognize as Eiji heads from the bleachers to congratulate Ash on his efforts. Belatedly, I realize it makes no sense for Ash to be in a different class when I established he was in Blanca and co.'s, but shhh, consistency is optional. Likewise, people Emet-Selch might recognize as his fellow Ascians go to speak with Azem.

Does Jester have any friends? Well, he gets to be a lonely vampire on the ground, either way.

The girl tilts her head, now that you all have water. ]

Did you have fun?

[robopriest]

Yeah, yeah, I know...but still... [It's the PRINCIPLE of the matter, you know? He glances to Emet, then to Blanca, before heaving a sigh.] I guess you're right. But no going back on that one, Blanca. Hunting him down will do you some good.

[Jester has no friends. This is canon.]

...Fun? [Hold on a moment, he needs to down this water first.] Hm. [He grins.] Yeah! Yeah, I did.

[HE GOT TO BEAT UP A VAMPIRE]

[arkitect]

[he does spare the people he recognizes a glance, but... he's doing his best not to pay attention to their presence here. there's at least one face that he doesn't know at all, which is-- probably concerning? time to focus on everything else, like the girl's question.]

Absolutely not.

[this is SO far from his idea of fun.]

[papasha]

[Oh noooooo, Eiji. He's absolutely distracted by the exchange despite the fact that maybe hunting a vampire down would do him some good. When you see your son being soft!

The pause for his own answer is what gets him to focus again.]

Oh, ah... Yes, I suppose I did have a little fun. [Emet-Selch is the only old man who didn't have fun.] Maybe we should have let Aides do the hunting.

[Watching Hansa be a jock had to at least be some fun.]

[retellers]

[ Clearly Emet needs to work out more. But this attitude is why you got banned from Kaiza's school premises, Hansa. ]

Um, try not to kill anyone on school grounds? [ noooooooo fighting ] But that's good to hear! When you're actually a teenager, you think stuff like this is completely lame, especially when you could be doing stuff like studying for university exams instead... but when you grow up and your daily life turns into listening to horrible bosses and that sort of thing, you kind of miss it once in a while.

[ Not sure how many of the people here can relate, though. ]

[robopriest]

It's a vampire.

[Like? Not human? Threat to humanity? Jester has the rights to die????]

And uh...okay. [Random...adult rant from this high school girl? He stares at her.] Your problems are...not very relatable there, little lady.

[arkitect]

... I cannot say I have ever truly missed it, no, as this is not entirely similar to my own experience.

[I'm so sorry he keeps being like this I really am, god.]

But I suppose I can see where others would find it nostalgic-- that much is a familiar enough sort of desire.

[papasha]

[Inwardly, he closes his eyes. It's fine. He's the normie out of the three of them. So he offers her a small smile.]

I understand. I think it's less you miss the things you did when you were younger--sometimes--and more you miss when life seemed a lot simpler. At least, what you think now is a lot simpler.

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. [He gives Hansa's chest a light sort of punch, kind of affectionate.] Kids like us shouldn't be in a hurry to grow up so fast.

[retellers]

[ Thank god at least one person here is a normie. ]

Pretty much! Well, regardless of your life experiences, I think everyone can agree that you shouldn't take things for granted. You never have as much time as you think do. It'll always run out, in the end. Nothing lasts forever.

[ She smiles, her expression somber. ]

... Your time here is running out, too. Knowing there's a chance you may never see the people around you again, what will you do with what you have left? I hope you can be happy with whatever answer you arrive at.

[ It seems to be mostly a rhetorical question, however, as the three of them will find themselves falling asleep. The dream they have this time is odd, though, if even more so their first one: it's nighttime in the Realm, and a woman with purple hair slits their throat.

When they wake up, they're at a Japanese shrine—the kind one would visit on New Year's. They're not alone, either. Around them are the familiar faces of Alex, Chiron, and Lup, dressed in winter clothes.

As are the three! They're out of their PE outfits and appropriately dressed for the cold weather as well. ]

[robopriest]

What do you mean, we may never see the people around us again-

[And he falls asleep, just like that.]

[And then, there's a slash to his throat, the blood pools, and Hansa opens his eyes with a start, panicking- and then realizes it was a dream. But this too...is it a dream? He's still a teenager, but he's in a nice winter coat, and gloves.]

[The appearance of the other three are also a surprise - Hansa blinks, before reaching out to Alex and Chiron.]

...You're here too? Where....where are we?

[arkitect]

[he doesn't have anything to say to that, only a nod-- it's something he's already given some thought to, honestly. he's considered before that the end of all of this truly might be the end, because for some of them in particular, nothing else has ever been promised.

but then there's the sudden sleep, the dream; he doesn't quite startle back into consciousness, he's already familiar with the sensation of death, so he just exhales a very relieved sigh at the more appropriate clothing. he is much comfier like this, thanks.

... emet-selch does reach out to place a hand on hansa's arm, though, brow furrowed.]

We do not know that they truly are here, wherever this may be.

[papasha]

[Oh. The smile slowly fades from his face at that. It isn't he hadn't considered it. The fact is, he has.

He's thought about it more than he'd care to admit.

The sleep is one of the strangest. Like being put under, but being able to dream. He's not sure if he is actually awake when he opens his eyes.

He doesn't like that it's maybe New Years. He doesn't like that Lup is here because of him, and the implications of the others here, too.] Lup... [But he also looks torn between doing exactly what Hansa does, and thinking this is just a dream.]

...a shrine?

[retellers]

[ This is where your mod RPs other people's characters and pretends not to be horribly OOC.

Lup reaches to take Blanca's hand, as if to pull him along. ]

C'mon, big guy. There's a place where you can get your fortunes, so let's go grab ours and laugh over how wrong they are.

[ Alex smiles at Hansa and Emet-Selch. More so Hansa, but it's fine. ]

We might as well get into the spirit of things, right?

[ Chiron adds his two cents as well, smiling in that knowing way of his. ]

Though accuracy isn't to be expected... it is tradition, and there is little harm in it.